MHI Blog
Former President of the National Association of Manufacturers Jerry Jasinowski recently wrote an article on the Huffington Post on the manufacturing and skills crisis.

This is a topic MHI has covered extensively in MHI Solutions and in our 2014 MHI Annual Industry Report. In fact, MHI CEO George Prest has said that "training and retention of workers is the most important issue facing this industry."

Modern Materials Handling
Manufacturing production continues to outpace overall economic growth and will be led more by investment than by consumer-driven advances over the next 18 months, according to a new report.

The Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) Quarterly Economic Forecast predicts that inflation-adjusted gross domestic product will expand 2.5% in 2014 and 3.2% in 2015. The former is a decrease from 2.8% and the latter equal to the 3.2% from MAPI’s March 2014 report.

Manufacturing.net
No matter what your industry, the design of your warehouse has far-reaching ramifications for efficiency and savings. The layout should make sense, and items should be accessible at short notice. Likewise, warehouse staff should understand the most efficient ways to place and find items so that operations are as fluid and seamless as possible.

Below are a few useful considerations for designing a warehouse that makes sense for both you and your customer.

Manufacturing.net
No matter what your industry, the design of your warehouse has far-reaching ramifications for efficiency and savings. The layout should make sense, and items should be accessible at short notice. Likewise, warehouse staff should understand the most efficient ways to place and find items so that operations are as fluid and seamless as possible.

Below are a few useful considerations for designing a warehouse that makes sense for both you and your customer.

Reuters
Online retailers jostling for a chunk of India's $13 billion e-commerce trade are so desperate to avoid snarled roads and inefficient railways that they fly their packages in the passenger cabin of costly commercial flights. The cargo, however, often gets bumped off.

India's largest domestic e-tailer Flipkart as well as bigger global rivals like Amazon and eBay Inc are widening their supplier networks or racing to build multi-million dollar logistics networks to circumvent crumbling infrastructure, keen to attract customers by shrinking delivery times to same-day or even as short as nine hours.

The Ripon Advance
The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved legislation on Tuesday that was introduced by Rep. Steve Scalise (R-La.) to streamline the permitting process for new manufacturing facilities.

The Promoting New Manufacturing Act would require the EPA to provide more guidance on how facilities can comply with new or revised environmental regulations and make more information related to the permits available to the public in an effort to prevent delays.

Progressive Railroading
Diverting freight from trucks is a big part of Union Pacific Railroad’s intermodal strategy. If a $400 million investment in a southern New Mexico facility pays off in the near term, the Class I might add a million or so truck conversions to its "win" column.

On May 28, UP opened an intermodal facility in Santa Teresa, which was completed a year earlier than projected and became semi-operational in April. Built on a 2,200-acre site that’s 11.5 miles long and one mile wide, the facility features an intermodal ramp with an annual lift capacity of 225,000 units, a locomotive fueling facility, 1,266 container and trailer parking stalls, and eight automated gates

EBN
Contrary to the doom and gloom surrounding the future of brick-and-mortar stores, they may have an advantage that Amazon can't compete with.

Material Handling & Logistics
Success in global markets isn’t just about money. It depends on how you do business. For proof, look no further than the S&P 500. More and more companies listed in that economic index tout the way they’ve reduced greenhouse gases, reduce waste, operate safely and respect human rights. Recently the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. companies listed on European exchanges are more likely to spread the word about their corporate citizenship since the European Parliament passed a directive in April requiring large businesses to provide such details.

Similarly, international trade agreements are built on such squishy things as trust. Unfortunately, there’s little of that inside the chambers where U.S. policy is made. Political polarization between Democrats and Republicans has paralyzed the passage of trade policy that would make it easier for American companies to grow their businesses around the world.

SupplyChainBrain
BNSF will spend $5bn on infrastructure this year, topping its record $4bn investment last year, says Steve Bobb, chief marketing officer. In addition to maintaining and improving service and capacity, BNSF will invest in logistics hubs and other future-focused infrastructure.

The concept of logistics hubs will continue to drive intermodal growth well into the 21st Century, says Bobb. These hubs have rail intermodal facilities as an anchor, surrounded by other logistics and distribution facilities, he explains.

Supply & Demand Chain Executive
Supply chain failures and disruptions have become more commonplace. It’s no surprise given the complexity of global supply chain today and the increasing number of risks facing companies.

What’s more unsettling, however, is the cost related to disruptions.

MHI Blog
Over three quarters of supply chain executives and operations managers predict their firms will increase their focus on sustainability over the next three years, according to a survey.

The poll, conducted by PwC and the APICS Foundation and titled "Sustainable Supply Chains: Making Value the Priority," found 43 per cent of respondents attributed cost reduction to supply chain sustainability initiatives and 35 per cent reported improvements in their company’s environmental impact.

Virtual Strategy Magazine
Digitally connected consumers have turned retail models upside down as omni-channel shopping has transformed supply chain from an important business concern to a mission critical one. So profound is this change that 50 percent of CEOs recognize that their supply chain can be a strategic differentiator. However, 83 percent of worldwide CEOs believe that their retail supply chains are currently "not optimal" for today’s changing retail environment.

In a global retail CEO survey of over 400 retail industry CEOs conducted by PwC for JDA Software titled: CEO Viewpoint: The Strategic Role of Supply Chain in an All-Channel World, CEOs indicated what they are doing to adapt to this changing environment and establish a new foundation for growth.

Industry Week
Toyota got a wake-up call in March 2011, when an earthquake registering 9.0 hit northern Japan, unleashing a massive tsunami. The human toll was devastating and the rebuilding task a monumental challenge. Later, for Toyota, it became evident how dramatic and far reaching this natural disaster was for its global business.

The company had recently attained the position of best-selling automaker worldwide, in part because of its tightly managed supply chain. Over the course of many years, it had taken the slack out of its operations, using just-in-time delivery of parts to keep inventories to a minimum. But having pruned its supplier base severely, in some cases to single suppliers of certain parts, it now found itself more vulnerable than it imagined.